Wiffen is on top of the world
will just keep grinding on and working hard in training.”
This was the same event in which Wiffen finished fourth in the Worlds in Fukuoka last July.
Five months later, the Armagh man won three golds in the European short course championships in Otopeni in Romania.
Wiffen’s parents, Rachel and Jonathan, watched him top the podium in two of the events.
But they had to travel home before he broke Grant Freeman’s longest standing world record in swimming in the 800m Freestyle.
They had not planned to travel to Doha but their eldest son provided them with tickets as a Christmas present. “I was like, ‘You’re coming’,” smiled Wiffen, who only took the lead in the final 75 metres.
“And it was great to see them, I know they would have loved every second of that but I know I would have made them nervous the way I swam it.
“But they’re so happy and I’ll meet up with them tomorrow hopefully and give them a hug.
“It’s even better that they could see it because they missed my world record in Otopeni.”
The three rivals who finished ahead of him in last year’s final in Japan weren’t in Doha, so the Loughborough University student knew there was a golden opportunity.
Finishing seventh in the 400m Freestyle earlier in the week didn’t faze him.
Italian rival Gregorio Paltrinieri made the early running, then Australian Elijah Winnington took over.
But Wiffen made the fastest finish of all to touch in 7:40.94, beating Winnington and Paltrinieri into second and third respectively by over two seconds.
“My goal was to be confident in myself, really trust what I’ve been doing in training and the plan we put together,” he said.